After watching the performance some more and thinking everything over, here are my thoughts on Yuna's SP...keep in mind this is season debut and Yuna has just recently recovered from injury. Her stamina is not there and I don't expect a perfect skate at the beginning of the season. Any criticism should be considered in that light, however I have faith that like last year she will only improve and refine the program by Sochi. I'm worried at the beginning of the year but I expect to be left in awe by an immortal performance in February!

Music cut and overall impression:

Wow! Congrats Yuna and David on a terrific choice. This music is very nostalgic, happy and sad at the same time. I can only think "parting is such sweet sorrow" when I hear the music and watch Yuna skate her final SP at the same time. I am certain this will be one of Yuna's best SP if not very best, right there with Danse Macabre in my opinion. In fact if I think on it now, I'm inclined to say that Send in the Clowns is #1 because it's more beautiful and meaningful.

Yuna herself:

I can't help but worry that something is wrong with Yuna at the moment. Either she is just tired from the injury and being out of shape, or maybe something else is troubling her. I feel like last year, despite what she said in public, she was out to prove herself during her comeback, and she had tremendous focus and intensity even during practice runs. This week in Zagreb, from the practices to the competition, she seems distant. Some of her magic is not there. This can make all the difference, even without her magic and superior musicality, Yuna can make a big score and look beautiful skating a beautiful program. But ... it looks like a figure skating program rather than a timeless work of art. It looks like she is skating with music playing in the background, just a much better version of a figure skater compared to the other competitors.

But when Yuna is at her very best, she becomes one with the music and the program and she transcends the sport and time itself. Her very best performances are timeless.

Some ideas:

Though that magic was not there in today's SP, I think it can be by the Olympics. This has the potential to be a very very special program. I really trust that Yuna will polish the performance as the season progresses. There may be some room for subtle changes to expressions and choreography.

The biggest idea for improvement I can think of concerns her approach to the program. Yuna need not portray the nostalgic heroine from the musical -- she should portray her own nostalgic self! My technical knowledge of figure skating is limited, but is it possible she could add very simple elements to her choreography during transitions or step sequences? Could she add some very basic elements she first learned when she was a young girl? After the big jumps are out of the way I would love to see an emotional walk back through memory lane, what I envision in my mind is Yuna wistfully remembering her novice and junior and senior skating days and expressing this through choreography elements. I realize there are many technical requirements she must meet during the program but surely there are ways to weave these in? Just an idea!

Dress:

I have a mixed opinion on the dress. I am not against yellow, I think it's a bold and mature color for a woman to pull off. Given the right color and cut I think Yuna looks very beautiful in yellow. This is despite my preference for a white dress before Yuna debuted her costume.

That said, I'm not convinced about the shade of yellow for the dress. I think the designer was looking for something more autumn like, but it might be more beautiful to use a slightly brighter color. This would also impart a more mature look and contrast well against the sad elements of the program.

Finally, I think the embroidery or whatever it is looks bad. Yuna looks like a knight wearing chain mail. I think the fit of the dress could be better too.

Final impressions:

Good job Yuna 73 huge score! Your season debut was way better than any other program this year. Now the trick is to polish the program and turn it into another one of your masterpieces by the next two and a half months.

What I would love to see is a more mature looking and bright dress -- I want to see a mature, beautiful, grown up woman taking a trip down memory lane and remembering her journey from little girl to where she is now. That's the masterpiece that I think David and Yuna have set us up for. This SP should be a prelude to the final battle, her swansong, which is the LP. Before Yuna engages that challenge, the most difficult of her career, she returns to all of the memories of her skating and life, with tears and sadness but also with smiles and happiness. The journey prepares her for the LP and her final goodbye.

Ven, I am not sure if you will see this post, but in case you do, I just have to say this. Your post was so touching and beautiful, even if I am not the biggest Yuna fan, especially the part about making a little journey back to the time when Yuna was a novice girl and walk through her skater career through her program before making the final exit. I haven't read anything so beautiful and moving in years.

I thought 73 was pretty high, but the protocols are not; I wonder what kind of 3-3's they were looking for to give +3... 0 for the flip from one judge?

As for the dress, I don't think the biggest concern is the colour as everyone suggests. It's the sleeves! Thank god she's editing the costume somehow, but I really wish she'd make the process easier by cutting off the sleeves! One thing that got me frowning last year was Yuna's crotch issues (...), vertical wrinkles bunching up time to time; seems that's not happening on her Clowns dress (sigh).
The designer's design qualities are good, but dated. She's well known in dance sports (ballroom), and her focus is not in figure skating. I don't get why Yuna's with her when all fresh, experienced Korean designers wouldn't hesitate a second to do her costumes, probably at a discount price too if not free. I've even seen really great, young designs from other existing Korean figure skating costume designers, so I wonder what the connection is to her.

OMg you got it... I couldn't quite figure out what it was but my eyes kept going somewhere around her wrist. I mean, her dress isn't so bad, although at first I thought it was, but later in her program, it didn't look as bad with her hair up and full make-up. But then it was still a bit... I don't know...not as classy as before...?? And you nailed it. It WAS the SLEEVES!!!

Thank you for that kind sentiment, wordsworthgirl. Since I'm an aspiring writer, your words mean a lot to me. Thank you.

Seeing as I'm having a drink tonight and the "Send in the Clowns" music has me emotional, I feel like telling a quick story. Besides my job as a professional poker player, I've been working on a screenplay for the last few years that I can't quite finish or get right. I think of it as my destiny, my life's work, which is a bit over the top for someone 25-30, which is the age I've been while writing it. People have entered and left my life in that time, usually parting with words like "good luck with your writing!" It's my obsession and most people know that.

What does this have to do with Yuna? She has become an inspiration for me, someone I greatly respect and admire. Not just for the immortal performances, but I often think about all the times she must have fallen at practice, or skated alone before anyone knew who she was. I can relate to a lot of her difficulties, if not her success. How it feels to want to quit and give up, for instance, when pursuing something so out of the norm. But then there is her determination and perseverance -- her excellence in the face of extreme pressure. If Yuna can do it, surely I can succeed too! And so I continue on day after day, hoping for the time when my art will be achieved. In the meantime, my livelihood is performance based, it depends on my decision making under pressure. Often times I find myself watching Yuna's famous skates as motivation before work, and I find this experience cathartic.

This morning I clicked on the video for Yuna's new short program, and I must admit I was anxious. Les Mis ... Gershwin ... Danse Macabre ... Bond ... Scheherezade. Could her program match or exceed these? What if it doesn't, could her last program we get possibly be lackluster? I was very worried. Needless to say, I think those worries are gone. Yuna's "Send in the Clowns" will be a masterpiece, possibly her best SP ever, and certainly the most meaningful. I was able to feel an immediate connection to the music and the potential of this program. Now the only thing left is for Yuna to feel it and express it herself. I suspect she would be reluctant to get too emotional for fear that might interfere with her concentration, but I also think this program is one where she must literally become the emotion -- the nostalgia -- the same way she had to become the music notes in Concerto in F.

My intuition tells me that as the final performance nears, nature will take its course and Yuna will succeed like she usually does.

Anyway, /ramblings of a madman. Need to sleep. Looking forward to seeing her LP tomorrow!

I'm disappointed with her costumes this season. Did her costume designer get lazy? The FS dress looks like a rip-off of her Danse Macabre outfit. These outfits are sub-par compared to all of her dresses from the past few years, and falls really short of her '10 Olympics outfits.

She'll make history if she wins in Sochi. She would not only just be the first back to back Ladies Olympic Champion in over 20 years, she'll also be the first woman to win without a blue dress in the FS in over 20 years.

She'll make history if she wins in Sochi. She would not only just be the first back to back Ladies Olympic Champion in over 20 years, she'll also be the first woman to win without a blue dress in the FS in over 20 years.

Thanks for the video!! I love the music choice and it's a great program. Too bad about the opening fall, but I think in another month or so, she'll be back to her regular self. Not a fan of this dress. It's not ugly, it just could bring more drama. A toned down version of that amazing fever dress would be perfect.

I prefer the LP over the SP. I found the SP to be on the empty and sparse side. The LP is nicer and better constructed. But, I have to say that Yuna is looked very slow during the LP. She was very cautious in the LP. She was faster in the SP. But, nice job overrall. Good that she had the attention to put a 2t after the 2nd Lutz.

OMg you got it... I couldn't quite figure out what it was but my eyes kept going somewhere around her wrist. I mean, her dress isn't so bad, although at first I thought it was, but later in her program, it didn't look as bad with her hair up and full make-up. But then it was still a bit... I don't know...not as classy as before...?? And you nailed it. It WAS the SLEEVES!!!

I tried to imagine the costume without sleeves and wow, then it looks great. Exotic.

I love her SP and LP. These are Wilson's very best and they capitalize on Yu-Na's unique powerful yet lyrical and sensual style. Yu-Na at the Olympics will be great without any doubt. I don't understand a fuss about her dresses. Skaters' dresses often look VERY different in person. Nonetheless, Yu-Na looks beautiful in them to me even on screen.